Hidden Grotto
by writtenmindset
Summary: With the disappearance of a majority of Fairy Tail's members, several Guilds pop up in the areas surrounding Magnolia. One grew out of a since tree deep within the forest not far from the large city, now known as Hidden Grotto. This out of the way guild contains the most ragtag group of mages from around the world. CURRENTLY ACCEPTING OCs.
1. Prologue

**After the three chapters I wrote, I figured I went down a bad path with the beginning of the story. So I'm going to re-write it. Of course its going to change a little bit, but it won't change much of the later chapters. Now on the topic of characters, I've got a load of them planned. However, as for the guild members I'm going to need you're help with that. The application will be at the end of the chapter. If you are interested, you can simply message me and I'll get back to you when I can. I don't believe there is anything else left. So without further waiting, lets just get to it.**

* * *

"This is just the place I was telling you about Lester!"

"Its a tree." With a sigh, Lester Top, one of two men standing in the middle of a large, dense forest muttered as he stared at the other man, slightly amused. Lester was nineteen and had short black hair. Lester stood at the short height of 5' 6" and was quite skinny. His green eyes showed his complete disinterest in the current subject his companion was talking about. On his back was a long spear, which slipped into a slot in his yellow coat. Underneath his coat, he wore a dark blue t-shirt, along with a pair of green pants and black boots. He had a pair of goggles around his neck, which was odd, since he never really used them.

"Exactly its just a tree! Nobody's ever had a guild inside a tree as far as I know!" the other man shouted, smiling. "Come on Lester! I know you're excited."

"Not really." Lester muttered. "Listen Otto-"

"Its Master now!"

"We never agreed to that." Lester rolled his eyes, as Otto smiled at him. "The other three won't agree to it."

"I believe I won that hand of poker." Otto said, smiling. "And out of us, I was the only S-Class mage."

Lester sighed, deciding it was best to avoid arguing with him, not that he really cared much anyways. Otto Verrader, age thirty, was always hard to deal with. His excited personality got in the way with nearly every mission, and stealth wasn't in his vocabulary. Otto had long silver hair, which was nearly always in a tangled mess. His blue eyes were always wide with excitement, no matter what the occasion. He wore a tan coat that was lined with white fur, which he nearly always had opened, showing the long sleeve orange shirt underneath. He had a pair of black pants on, along with a pair of brown sandals.

For _numerous_ reasons, the guild the duo had once been a part of was no more, and so they set out with three others in order to start up anew. With the disappearance of a majority of the guild centered in Magnolia, Fairy Tail, the large forest not far the city seemed like an excellent location, with little competition. Whether or not the guild would be successful was quite a question. The only current members consisted of a team of three mages, each with equally destructive magic, and a lazy mage who's primary magic was useful mainly for recon and spying.

"So are you going to keep rambling to me about the giant tree, or are you going to get to it?" Lester asked, turning to take his spear out in order to draw into the ground with it.

"My my, someone sure is in a rush." Otto smiled as he turned to look up at the tree. "This will take but a minute." Otto used a kind of magic that generated and manipulated wood too his own will. He closed his eyes as he held his hands up, the ground beginning to shake as the trunk of the tree began to grow outwards.

"You're messing up my drawings" Lester muttered sarcastically as he turned to look back at the tree. While it had been nearly thirty feet high before, its height passed sixty now. Though the two had been standing ten feet away, the tree now was steps from them.

"Now all we have to do is hollow it out." Otto said, smiling.

"Can't you do that without our help?"

"What's the fun in that?" Otto asked, grinning as he stared at the tree. _Soon you'll be a bustling guild filled with mages from all over. I'm going crazy just thinking about how fun it will be._

"Well _Master"_ Lester muttered sarcastically. "This guild got a name yet?"

"I dunno, I was thinking something cool." Otto muttered, taping his chin. After several seconds of thinking his smiled, turning towards Lester. "Welcome to Hidden Grotto."

* * *

Well there you have it, the prologue. Now for the timeline, the prologue takes place around 3 years before Team Tenrou's disappearance, while where the story will pick up next time, will be just after the Grand Magic Games after their return.

Application for characters:

Name: (Full)

Age: (Any realistic Age)

Gender:

Appearance: (Including what they look like, along with their usual clothing)

Personality: (Give me some stuff to work with, the more you put in, the more gets into the story)

History: (Give me some stuff to work with. Past Experiences with other characters ect. Whatever you'd like to put in, as long as its realistic)

Magic: (Dragon Slayer limit: 3 S-Class Mage limit: 4. This number could change depending on how good the characters are, even so I will only accept 1 extra in each catagory.)

Specific Spells: (As many as you'd like)

Anything else you'd like to add:


	2. Chapter 1

**Well onto the next chapter I suppose. I'm not planning to introduce any sent in characters until after this arc, which should only be 3-5 chapters. So far I don't have many characters, and I'm thinking I'll need around 20 or so in full. Now we're also at the current timeline. Year: X791, right after the events that unfolded at the Grand Magic Games.**

**Other than that I don't believe I have anything else to mention, other then send in those characters!**

* * *

"Dragons... who would have thought?"

Otto yawned as he stared at the paper. The entire newspaper was covered with everything that had went down at the Grand Magic Games. Fairy Tail's victory, along with everything that had went down after the games. Otto smiled to himself, knowing that now they would have to work much harder, since a majority of the usual jobs they would receive would go back to the now redeemed guild not thirty miles away.

However, ever since several days ago, some odd jobs had started to appear. These jobs were made mandatory by the Magic Council for unknown reasons, so that usually meant that the council needed something covered up, or that this was something bigger than they could handle, either way, Otto knew they'd need to do at least one or two of them.

When he walked out of his office, he noticed the guild was nearly entirely empty. The only other person there was Lester, who was standing behind the bar, making himself a drink.

"So what's with these jobs?" he asked, pointing to the counter, which had a pile of jobs marked MANDATORY on them. No reward was posted either, since mandatory jobs usually had none.

"The council's up to something again, who knows." Otto said, rummaging through the pile. "They're all about finding certain people. Ivy Monmouth, Malcolm French, Watson Marco. Guess that's where everyone went huh?"

"Nope. Most of them went to gather supplies. Its just about time that he came back. Just like always there's going to be a huge party." Lester muttered. "And just like always, we'll be flat out broke afterwards."

"So who is on one of these?"

"Gale went out on one but he took the listing with him." Lester muttered, as he took a sip of his drink. "The trio went after another one. Let's see... this one" He held up the paper so Otto could look at it.

"Nora Kaiga? Wonder what's so special about this kid that the council marked her as mandatory."

Lester rolled his eyes. "Thing is, two of the ones you mentioned earlier? Known Dragon Slayers. Couple of others thrown in there too."

Otto went through the list again, noticing the same thing. "So if all of these are Dragon Slayers, what exactly is going on?"

"Who cares?" Lester muttered, shaking his head.

"This says she's going to be taking the steam train up into the mountains." Otto said, before turning towards Lester. "Who did you send again?"

Lester stared at him for a second, before his eyes widened. "Oh crap."

"Get the communication Lacrima, we might be able to stop them before they do anything too stupid." Otto yelled at Lester. He nodded, and in the blink of an eye, Lester had disappeared. Lester used a type of magic known as Jump Magic, which allowed him to teleport from place to place in quick succession, though his distance was limited to ten feet. Within seconds Lester had returned with the crystal ball, handing it to Otto.

Otto placed the lacrima on the bar, staring at it for a second before it connected successfully. As the image slowly appeared, they found themselves staring at a blonde man in a dress shirt and tie. He nervously pulled at the solid orange tie as he tried to ignore the shouting coming from next to him, before noticing the connection between the crystals.

"Oh! Uh... N-Nan! Shut Up!" he muttered, before looking at the crystal. "Master? We weren't expecting anything from you."

"Martin. Where are you three?"

"We just go on the train. Don't worry, there's no need to recall us, I can handle these two for a few hours. I've been doing it for years." Suddenly, Martin was pushed out of the way as a red-headed girl jumped in front, grinning widely.

"I knew it! What's up Otto?"

"Nan, didn't I tell you not to call me that?"

"Nuh-uh!" Nan muttered, crossing her arms. "I know for a fact you cheated that hand so I'll never call you what everyone else does."

Otto sighed, looking over toward Lester, who shrugged and went back to his drink. "Nan, can you at least not try to destroy the train. We're low on funds and I'd like to keep the guild running for another month."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say old man"

"I'm not that much older than you."

"Shut up!" Nan pushed the crystal back towards Martin who shook his head and adjusted his tie.

"Well she sure is playing by her own rules." Otto said, smiling.

Martin looked towards her, before sighing. "When doesn't she?"

"Martin, just be careful. The mission you're on seems extremely important."

"Don't worry. I've already spotted the girl. I was just waiting till Nan went to the bathroom or something."

"Don't screw it up Marty!" Lester yelled, as he jumped over the bar, walking up to a table and beginning to set it. Otto nodded to Martin, before ending the connection. He turned to Lester and sighed.

"This is going to cost me a lot of money..."

* * *

Elsewhere on the train, a girl stood next to a door, looking nervously in both directions, ready to bolt out just in case. The girl had jet black hair, which was covered by the hood of her red coat. Her hazel eyes darted around as she stuffed her hands in her pocket. The girl's hair typically reach her shoulders, though her bangs covered her eyes nearly completely. The sandals she wore on her feet were nearly as worn as her brown pants, which had numerous holes in them, and were covered in dirt.

"Nora, just relax... you've got nothing to worry about."

"Two people try to kill me in six hours and I've got nothing to worry about?" Nora scoffed as she looked down. At her feet stood a small cat, who was barely as tall as her knees. The cat was lime green, and only wore a small cat-sized brown sweatshirt. However, the cat was odd in numerous ways other than it being a talking cat. Out of its mouth was a lit cigar.

"Come on, don't worry about it. Need be I'll fly our asses outta here in a jiffy. For now rest, you look like you haven't slept in days. " the cat sighed, shaking its head at its human companion.

"I haven't Ferris... in four days." Nora muttered, shaking her head. "There's no way I can." As she looked around again, Ferris sighed, climbing up her legs, onto her shoulder.

"Listen Nora, you just lean against the wall and shut your eyes, I'll watch over you while you rest."

"I don't know..."

Ferris sighed, shaking his head. "Whaddya want from me kid? A drink? I can get you one of those." He pointed to the bar not ten feet away, though Nora shook her head. "Then what in the world do you want?"

Nora sighed and shrugged. She took one nervous look at the door again, before shaking her head. "Let's just go to one of the other cars."

"That's my girl"

As Nora and Ferris quickly walking into the next car, they failed to notice the person sitting at the bar, staring at a piece of paper before looking up. The only thing on the paper was the words WANTED and REWARD: 500,000 jewels, along with Nora's picture.

"A lot of jewels for someone so weak looking..." the person smiled as they stood up, reaching into their cloak, beginning to pull out a sword.

* * *

**So there you have it, beginning of Arc One: The Runaway Train. Still have a lot of open spots so send in your characters! Let me know how it was! See ya next time.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Well onto the next chapter. I've got a slow but steady stream of characters coming in. Also two of the Dragon Slayer positions have been taken, the Ice and Fire Dragon Slayers are no longer available if you were going to use them sorry. Now onto what's going on. **

**Last Chapter Recap: Lester and Otto learn of the Magic Council's mysterious target of Dragon Slayers, along with the other three members of the Founding Five being sent to find one of them, Nora Kaiga. On the Steam Train, Nora is being targeted by a cloaked figure, though the guild members aren't far away. **

* * *

"I'm going to find the girl Nan." Martin said, standing up and heading towards the door. Martin was tall and lanky, so he'd end up having to bend over in order to fit through the door. He quickly looked down at his orange tie, once again adjusting it, an odd habit of his that he usually did when he was nervous. He wore a plain while dress suit in addition to the tie, along with a pair of black dress pants and shoes. Martin had short blonde hair, and green eyes, which were currently staring at the redhead in the corner.

"Martin Finch." Nan said, standing up as she turned to him. "Did you really think I would just stand here while you got to do all the fun."

Martin sighed as he stared at her. "Nan its a mission not a game. Master told me that this is a pretty important one too."

"Ah screw Otto. He's always ruining all the fun." Nan muttered. "Listen, how about this. You'll go look for the girl, and I'll go look for Orville?"

"Orville?" Martin quickly scanned the small cabin, confirming his feats. "Crap, when did he leave?"

"Ten minutes ago." Nan said, scratching the back of her head. She smiled as she started to walk towards the door. "You're pretty oblivious, you know?"

Martin sighed as he followed her out, though the two went in opposite directions. One headed towards the front of the train, the other towards the back.

Nan smiled to herself as she skipped through the train, completely disregarding the train's movements. Nan Jennings was the same age as Lester, though she looked much younger. The redhead's long hair bounced as she skipped along, her light brown eyes staring blanking in front of her. The over sized purple sweater she was wearing seemed normal enough, apart from the sleeves which practically reach past her knees, even when her arms were crossed. She wore light blue tights underneath, along with a pair of dark blue boots.

She skipped into the next car, nearly bumping into a group of men who were standing in the middle of the car. "Oh, woops. Silly me! Sorry, I'm a klutz." Nan said, smiling as she looked at the door, realizing she was in the last car. "Well guess Martin's getting both of them."

She quickly spun around, before noticing that all but one of the men had left he car, leaving the biggest one standing right in front of the door. Being practically a giant compared to the 5' tall Nan, the man in the brown track suit stared down at her. Nan quickly stared at him, spotting a name tag on the tracksuit.

"Alright Mr. Biggs, are you going to let me through?" Nan asked, smiling to the man in front of her. When he shook his head, Nan grinned, holding up her right arm in order to roll up its sleeve. "I was hoping you'd say that."

* * *

In the dining car, Nora was still moving slowly, obviously nearly completely out of energy. As she yawned, the doors to the car behind her opened quickly, as someone came rushing out, straight towards Nora. The second they were next to her, they pulled a sword out from inside their cloak, the blade sliding straight through the girl's waist. Ferris jumped straight off Nora, wings shooting out of his back, while his cigar fell from his mouth.

Nora's eyes widened as she stared at the sword that had went straight through her. The cloaked person stopped running once they past her, but as they looked towards the blade, they realized that it wasn't blood that covered it. The second they looked towards Nora, they realized what had happened, as the girl's body exploded into a burst of black ink.

"Alright I'll admit I was wrong this time." Ferris said as he flew above the ground, avoiding most of the ink. Nora stepped out from the corner of the car, staring at the cloaked figure across from her. The once dark blue cloak was now nearly completely black, along with a majority of the train car. "Nice Ink Clone though."

"Thanks..." Nora said, before taking her hood off and looking towards the figure. "Why are you trying to kill me."

The figure shook their head, before tossing the cloak away, revealing herself. The girl was probably not older than Nora at seventeen, though the two greatly differed in appearance. The girl had pale blonde hair that was pulled back away from her face, and blue eyes, which Nora noticed seemed to have killing intent behind them. Apart from the sword in her hand, the girl had its scabbard, along with another sheathed sword attached to her left hip. She wore a dark red vest over a long sleeve plain blue shirt, along with a pair of black jeans and black sandals. The girl frowned, before lunging towards Nora, sword pointed at her heart.

Nora jumped back, holding her right hand up as it became engulfed in a black aura. "Ink Dragon's Claw!" She screamed as she swung her arm at the girl, hoping to at least knock her back, but the woman used to sword to block the hit. With her remaining hand, the girl reach towards the other sword, pulling it out and swinging for Nora's head in a single motion. Luckily, Nora manage to move her head to the side, only earning a slight gash on her left cheek. She quickly jumped back, pulling her right arm back, before thrusting forward as the black ink surrounded her hand once again, this time shooting in a straight line towards the girl. Though the sword took nearly all of the damage, the attack still knocked the girl back towards the door.

As the girl recovered, her clothes became covered in ink in several places. However, the two girls' staring contest ended abruptly, when the doors swung open. As they turned they noticed the man standing in the doorway. The man was of average height, and wore a fedora on his head. The light brown hat covered his eyes, though the remainder of his face was able to be seen. He obviously hadn't shaved in a little while, since a slight stubble could be easily seem. He wore a dark brown leather jacket, and a pair of blue jeans. He tapped his boot clad foot on the ground as he absorbed the situation. His brown hair could be seen poking out from under the hat. When he finally seemed to absorb the situation, he reach to his back.

Nora half expected him to produce a sword, just as the other girl had, and wasn't really hoping for a two-verse-one battle in her state. However, what he produced wasn't anything close to such a thing. He held a double-barrel shotgun, which he pointed at the girl with the swords. As he shot, the projectile wasn't the typical shotgun shells, it was more like a dark blue burst of electricity. The second it connected with the girl's chest she was sent flying backwards as if an explosion went off in front of her, knocking her back into the wall of the car, her swords clattering on the ground, feet away.

The man turned towards Nora, before lifting his head up, showing his blue eyes and the proud smile he had on his face. "Nora Kaiga, I presume?"

* * *

On top of the middle train car, the three remaining men from the group were standing, each not even flinching to the speed the train was traveling. Each man wore a tracksuit, though each was a different color. One was green, another red, and a final was black. The man in black looked up, a pair of orange goggles over his eyes. "While Biggs is taking care of that girl, I want Harris to go find the other guy in the tie. Take care of him and meet us at the back of the train. By then Lamp and I should have the girl, and have taken care of the other two problems. If need be, feel free to kill anyone that gets in the way. We've got about twenty minutes until we arrive at the next station, so we need to be done in fifteen. Got it?"

"Alright Rooke, but what if the girl puts up a fight?" the man in the red track suit, Lamp asked.

"We've got permission to harm her, even take a limb if necessary, as long as we don't kill her." the leader, Rooke announced. "I don't want any mistakes here boys. We're already the laughing stocks, no need to drag our names in the dirt. See you in ten."

* * *

**So there you have it! The sword-wielding girl defeated? Who is this man with the shotgun? And who are these track-suit clad men? And what do they want with Nora? Well until next time, see you.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Well here we are, onto Chapter 3! Well here's where things start to get interesting! The characters are still coming so keep it up! I only have 9 so far, out of the full 25, so there's plenty of room. Especially S-Class Mages, since I only have one out of four. I can't wait to see what you all have for me! **

**Last Chapter Recap: Nan and Martin set out to find their missing comrade, along with the target of their mission, Nora. However Nan is cut off by a large man, one of four strange men in track suits on the train. Meanwhile, Nan begins her fight with the cloaked figure, who is really a girl. Their fight is cut short as the girl is blasted away by a fedora-clad man wielding a shotgun and the tracksuit men begin their mission. **

* * *

"Alright big guy." Nan said, as she stared up that the much taller man. "I want you to punch me as hard as you can... right in the face." The man, Biggs was approximately 6'5", which was over a foot taller than Nan, whose height of 5' seemed like absolutely nothing compared to the black-haired man.

The larger man simply smiled as he stared at the girl. He brought his fist back, before driving it straight into her face, knocking her back. The force of the punch knocked Nan several feet back, straight to the floor. However, without a moment's hesitation, she was standing once more. Blood leaked down the left side of her head, and her nose had started to bleed as well. Other than that, Nan couldn't look happier. "That's all you have? Man I thought this would be fun."

Biggs frowned as he began to walk towards her. If she really wanted his full force, he'd give it to her. Nan smiled as she knelt down, closing her eyes. She clenched the fist of the hand she had brought out of her sleeve, before lunging forward, faster than Biggs could have reacted if the two were the same size. In an instant she drove her fist into his chest.

"Lunge Ten." she muttered, before pushing off of him, landing on her feet. Biggs began to cough, nearly collapsing from the single punch. "Y'know I could have broke your spine if I wanted too."

"Heh." Biggs stood up after a second, smiling at the redhead. "Absorb."

"So you can talk..." Nan said, watching as the larger man's size seemed to increase. "Oh, so you're one of those conversion mages. This is going to be more fun than I thought."

Once Biggs had stopped growing, he now stood at 7'3'', barely fitting in the train's car. Nan smiled, before tilting her head towards the side, loudly cracking her neck. Biggs brought his arm back once more, before thrusting towards Nan once again. The girl simply held her still covered left hand up, completely blocking the punch, pushing him backwards.

The second Biggs grabbed his arm, Nan smiled. "I just broke you radius, ulna, and humerus. Along with a bunch in you hand itself." Nan grinned as she began to roll up her left sleeve, walking closed towards Biggs. "I wonder if you understand my magic yet? No? Well I'll just tell you the basics, I won't bore you completely. I use a type of magic called Power Manipulation. So if you hadn't noticed, this entire time, I've just been lowering your power level, while raising mine."

"You-"

"I'm evil aren't I?" Nan asked, grinning once again. "Don't worry, I'll take care of your friends too."

Biggs jumped forward to grab her, however, Nan's speed allowed her to easily deliver a kick to his jaw, right from under him. The giant man fell backwards, causing the whole car to shake as he hit the ground. Nan smiled to herself as she ran a hand through her hair. "It was fun, but I'm going to have to end it."

"Do you even know who you're dealing with?"

"Biggs, you mistake me for someone who cares." Nan smiled as she held her right fist out in front of her. "Final Judgement: Ten Ton Hammer." Within a second he jumped above him, bringing her arm back. As she grew closed she drove her arm down, driving her fist into Bigg's abdomen. The force from the single thrust shook the entire train, let alone the car she was in nearly collapsed in on itself.

"Woops... a little too far." Nan muttered, quickly rolling her sleeves down as she held her right hand. "Think I just shattered my radius... Oh well can't do anything about it now."

Without another word Nan left the car, commencing her skipping once again as she headed down the train, towards the others.

* * *

Martin closed the door to the dining cart behind him as he entered, pulling at his tie once again. "Whatever she's doing back there... she's going to get us all killed."

"Sport, I highly doubt that girl's still alive. Biggs has more than enough power to stop this train short in a second."

Martin turned, spotting a man in a green track suit standing in the middle of the cart, smiling as he took a sip of a drink. The man had dark blue hair and a goatee to match it. A strap ran across his chest, obviously connecting the the sword hilt that could be spotted on his back.

"I'm sure Nan's fine." Martin said, looking at the ground. "For your friend though..."

"Sport, you're pretty full of yourself aren't you?" the man smiled as he placed the drink on the table. "I'd hate to have to kill you, that's just not my style. So why don't you just sit down and have a drink with me?"

"I don't drink."

"Well then... why don't you just die then?" In a second, the man disappeared. Martin's eyes widened as he recognized the form of magic right away. _Jump Magic... just like Lester.  
_

Seconds later, the man appeared behind him, sword in hand now, swinging towards Martin's neck.

"Wait!"

Martin's words didn't reach the man in time as the sword swung closer to his neck, before colliding with...nothing. The force of the impact sent the man backwards, landing a few feet back before jumping to his feet again.

"What the-"

"If you had waited, I may have told you so you didn't waste you're time." Martin sighed, adjusting his time once again as he looked towards the man. As he stared, a force field which had been clear seconds ago began to glow a bright red. "I utilize Barrier magic. You will not be able to cut me with that."

"We'll see about that won't we?"

"If I may ask, I'd like to know your name."

"Why don't we go with Harris, its what my coworkers call me."

"Harris? Seems like a decent name." Martin muttered. "Harris, I'm going to have to ask you to exit the vehicle."

Harris smiled, shaking his head. "I'd like to see you try." Harris lunged forward, smashing his sword against the barrier once again. He repeated the process, creating spark after spark as Martin simply stood with his arms crossed from the inside.

"Its not going to work." Martin muttered, shaking his head. "How about you just listen to me for once?"

"I told you that wouldn't work!" Harris lunged once again, however, instead of the usual spark, the blade grazed Martin's side as he sidestepped. As he hadn't been expecting the attack the work, Harris stepped forward, having put too much force into the attacked.

Martin stepped back, holding his hands out in front of him as he generated another barrier, this one a dark green color and in a long rectangle shape. "Shell Smash." Martin pushed the barrier forwards, smashing it into Harris and pinning him against he wall of the car. Martin stepped forward, looking at the swordsman as he held his hand up once more. "Will you leave willingly?"

"I'll kill you! Why can't I jump behind you? I just want to stab you in the back and watch your heart stop bleeding sport!" Harris yelled, swinging his free arm around, attempting to get leverage.

"My green barriers negate magic." Martin answered, before sighing. "I gave you the choice. Crash Braun!" The barrier's color darkened to brown as Martin pushed his hand forward, destroying the wall of the car, as well as forcing Harris off the train. Martin sighed as he stared at the damage he had cause.

"I'm such a hypocrite."

* * *

Nora's eyes widened as she stared at the man in the fedora, who and entered the car and was now staring at Ferris.

"Damn... its one of those cat things..."

"Oi, I'm an Exceed ya cowboy bastard!" Ferris yelled, tossing he cigar butt at the man.

"Angry little fella ain't ya?" the man smiled, before noticing Nora staring at him. "Oh hey. I'm guessing, well hoping I didn't shoot the wrong one, but Nora Kaiga?"

"H-How do you-"

"Job listing hun." the man yawned, scratching the side of his head with the barrel of the shotgun. "Orville Scott of the guild Hidden Grotto, here to save the day or some kinda bull crap like that."

"Wh-Who's-"

"What do I look like a phone book? Am I supposed to know who everyone is?" Orville shook his head, before looking down again at the unconscious girl. "Oh wait, I do know that one. Lunis Quinn... she's a bounty hunter from what I heard. Damn good one too. You're lucky I showed up."

Nora nervously looked over towards the downed girl, clenching her fists as she though to herself.

"Now if you don't mind I'd like to-" Before Orville could finish, Nora had shot a ink stream straight for his head, which he barely managed to dodge. In a split second he had the girl pinned to the floor, shotgun against the center of her forehead. "That wasn't very nice..."

"Oi! Cowboy! Get off her why don't ya! Fight someone yer own size!" Orville simply looked in Ferris's direction before the Exceed was knocked out of the air by a small blue spark.

"Unlike my partners, I really don't have the patience to worry about your nervousness or trust issues. So no matter what you're coming with me. Got it?"

Nora stared up at the man, his hat had fallen off and now laid a few feet away on the ground. "O-Ok... p-please-"

"I ain't gonna hurt you." Orville muttered as he stood up, sighing as he held his hand out. "Especially not during a mandatory mission."

Nora reach out to grab the man's hand, however before she could, the door burst open and two men walked in, the first releasing a small ball of dark red energy that crashed into Orville, knocking him back into the wall. The two men who walked in both wore track suits, one in black, the other in red.

"Now that Hidden Grotto is taken care of. Miss Kaiga, if you don't mind, I'd prefer you come willingly."

* * *

**And there you have it, chapter 3 is done. Now onto chapter four! Send in those characters! PLEASE! The quicker they get sent in, the quicker I can plan everything! Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Alright everyone, a lot of characters came after last chapter, so here's an update. I've got 2 out of 4 S-Class Mages. 2 more spots available for them. All spots for Dragon Slayers are full. But I did say that I may take one more depending on how good the character is. Though if you are, I'd prefer a female since all three that were sent in were Males, taking the Fire, Water, and Ice Dragon Slayers. **

**In all I think I have around 18 or 19, so hopefull after this chapter I'll be able to get all of them and get to planning. I believe there will be one more chapter after this one in this arc, before I'll get to the Hidden Grotto Mini-Arc, which is just the introductions. After that I'll have an arc that will take place at the same time the mini-arc does, as two characters will not be present to be introduced. Also, if you put in your application that your character isn't part of the guild yet, they won't debut during the mini arc.**

**Last Episode Recap: Nan and Biggs's battle takes a heavy toll on the train, the Nan easily defeated the giant, causing more harm to herself than Biggs did. Martin and Harris's fight was over in seconds, Martin's barrier magic causing many problems for the swordsman. Meanwhile, Orville informs Nora that he's here to help her, though the remaining two track suits take him out, and also express their interest in her.**

* * *

"Miss Kaiga, if you don't mind, I'd prefer you come willingly." The man in the black track suit and orange goggles smiled as he held his hand out to help her up. His brown hair covered most of his face, though he was obviously smiling. The smile itself sent chills down her spine as she pushed herself up, staring at the man. The man in red rolled his eyes as he looked around.

"Looks like the competition sent a bounty hunter for her..."

The man in black chucked, shaking his head. "They never learn do they? Lamp make sure she's dead."

"No problem." With that said, the man in red, Lamp walked over towards Lunis, nudging her with his foot. "Nope she's still breathing."

The man in black sighed, turning towards Lamp. "Didn't I tell you to kill her."

"Well I thought you meant-" Before Lamp could finish his sentence, his head few off his shoulders. The man in black looked amused as the bounty hunter stood up, one of her swords in hand.

"Nice try..." Lunis muttered, breathing heavily as she looked towards where the shot had hit her in the chest. The part of her shirt had several hole burned into it, and steam rising off. However, before she could worry about herself anymore, Lamp's body hit the ground, exploding into a million small black parts. "What?"

Nora's eyes widened as she looked down, realizing exactly what the black spots were. "Bugs?"

"If you're not going to come willingly, at least make this interesting." The man in black said, turning towards Nora.

Nora took one last look towards the people in the car, before bolting towards the door. "Ferris."

"I'm coming, hold yer horses" The Exceed was in the air once again, flying past the man in black, who simply stared smiling. As the two left, the bugs slowly began to pile together, until they formed the shape of a man, which after a few more seconds, formed Lamp.

"You're just going to let them leave?"

"I'm giving them a head start."

Lamp shook his head as he smiled. "Don't get cocky Rooke. You're the one who said no screw-ups."

"Don't you have a fly to squash?"

With Rooke's words, Lamp disappeared to the bugs yet again, which quickly began to move into the next car ahead, after Lunis who had grabbed her swords and ran the moment she decapitated Lamp.

"He's so naive..." Rooke said, shaking his head as he took a step towards the next car, before turning around once more. "I'm impressed you're still alive."

"Takes a little more than that to kill me." Orville muttered, pushing himself up as he stared at the enemy. "What do you want with her?"

"Right to the point I see." Rooke smiled, shaking his head. "You misunderstand me, I'm to here to hurt her. My employer simply wishes to be in her presence. I was simply told to make sure I left no loose ends."

"I see." Orville sighed, before bringing his hand up to his face. "Spark Plug: C4"

"I've very aware of your Charge Magic Mr. Scott." Rooke said, smiling to himself. "You see, I've already absorbed a majority of it, probably why Miss Quinn woke up so early."

"Absorb?"

"And Repulsion." Rooke held up his hands, generating another ball of energy, similar to the last he used against Orville.

* * *

"Not so fast!" Lunis frowned as she stood atop the train, one sword in hand, the other at her side with the wind blowing her hair behind her. As she turned she finally saw Lamp coming out of the bug pile again. "Surprised to see me?"

"Not really." Lunis muttered, staring at him.

"My magic lies in my abilities to manipulate bugs, such as the ones that are just about to grab you." As Lamp spoke, a pile of the bugs made their way over towards Lunis, piling onto her feet, pinning them to the ground. "I'm basically a human hive!"

Lunis sighed, pulling her second sword out and pointed it at Lamp. "Are you going to talk all day?"

"Ha! What do I care!" Lamp yelled. "You can't even move! I could just wait till we pass under an overpass!" Lunis frowned, shaking her head.

"I honestly thought you'd be more interesting than this."

Lamp glared at her, before rushing towards her. "Swarm Stinger!" As he opened his palm, a burst of wasps and hornets flew out, straight towards Lunis, who held bother of her swords up, blocking most of the attack, though she took several stings to her arms, legs, and face.

"HA! See! I told you."

Lunis shook her head, letting out a slight smile. "You can't control so many at once. Thanks for letting my feet free." She pointed both swords towards him and sighed, only opening one eye, as the other had begun to swell shut due to a sting right next to it. "Harvest Moon: Blood Harvest"

"You can't cut me! Didn't you realize that yet?" Lamp yelled, grinning as Lunis lunged forward. She brought both swords behind her as she got closer, before slashing at him the second she was next to him. Once again, both wounds sealed themselves with bugs seconds later.

"Hmm..."

"I TOLD YOU! YOU CAN'T BEAT ME WITH SWORDS!"

Lunis held her swords up once more, glaring at him as she readied herself. Lamp brought his arm back, closing his eyes. "Full Moon: Rising"

"Centipede Smash!" Lamp's arm shot out, segmenting along the way, appearing as if he had a centipede for an arm, however, before his attack could hit, Lunis spun around, disappearing in the blink of an eye. "What the-" before Lamp could recall his arm, the bounty hunter appeared next to him, both of he swords ready to slash.

"Dammit"

The attack hit dead on as the blades finally shed blood. Lamp fell back, holding one of the wounds. "We'll... kill you..."

"I'm counting on it." Lunis muttered, before sheathing her swords and heading back towards the ladder. With no strength left to hold himself up, Lamp fell back, right off the train, landing hard on the ground and rolling a few feet before stopping.

"Weak"

* * *

"Kid you should have stayed with the cowboy bastard." Ferris muttered, flying behind Nora as she ran down the train."This other guy is bad news."

Nora shook her head as she ran. "I-I I know... I just-" Nora attempted to answer the Exceed, though she couldn't manage to figure out the words to do so. "I have to get off this train..."

Ferris shook his head as he flew. However, as the two entered the next car, Nora was met with an arm wraping around her neck, dragging her to the ground. As Nora attempted to force the person off of her, she was pushed away.

"Crap... you're not wearing a track suit..." the attacker muttered.

"Nan... what did you just do? Is that the girl we're supposed to be finding."

"Oh yeah. Kaiga right?" Nan turned towards the girl, smiling once more. "Nice too meet ya, I'm Nan and the suit is Martin."

"Oh good you found them for me." Nora's eyes widened as she turned towards the doorway, where Rooke was standing, a bored look on his face. The left shoulder of his track suit was burned off, similar to Lunis's shirt, though other than that he had no other injury.

"Nan!"

"Got it!" Nan muttered, jumping up. "Closed Fist: Left Hook!" Nan jumped towards Rooke, as Martin threw up a barrier in front of himself and Nora. Nan's fist slammed into Rooke's face, though the man had no reaction whatsoever.

"A magic powered punch. Ha." Rooke shook his head, as he grabbed Nan by her right hand, which caused her to scream in pain, before her threw her into the side of the car, effectively knocking her out. "Two down. Two to go."

"You forgot one!"

"What?"

Before Rooke could react, Lunis had rushed past him, sword in hand as she slashed along his leg. She quickly turned to swing again, however the man smiled and brought his hand to her face. "Repulse!"

The burst of energy from the attack sent Lunis flying straight back, slamming into Martin's barrier.

"Nora Kaiga... you're coming with me." Rooke sneered, glaring down at the two. Martin sighed, jumping forward, as he held out a green barrier. However, before the barrier could touch Rooke, it began to dissolve in Martin's hands as Rooke absorbed the magic, before transferring it straight into a swift kick straight to Martin's stomach.

The mage could only muster a single cough before collapsing to the ground, the force to strong to withstand.

"Now that we're finally alone," Rooke began, staring down at the girl. "I'm taking you with me. No matter what."

Ferris flew forward. "Not on my watch ya evil bastard!" With a flick of the wrist, Rooke let out a small energy ball, which connected with Ferris, shooting him out of the sky, landing on top of Nan, who barely stirred. "I'm tired of playing games with you..."

* * *

**There you have it folks, chapter 4! Almost done with Arc 1! Send in those characters!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Alrightyo. Sorry for the delay everyone, had a lot to do the past few days.. but now we're back Onto the last chapter of the Runaway Train Arc. Next chapter starts the Introduction Mini-Arc, so once that first chapters out I'm gonna start with the OCs. I've still got a few spots remaining. So send em in!**

**ALSO: If you'd like to, I have 2-non Mage spots open for the guild. A bartender, along with a doctor. I can make both if nobody wants to, but I thought I'd put it out to see if anyone wanted to first.**

**Last Chapter Recap: The Track Suit Men attack, easily defeating Orville in seconds, however Lunis awakes and flees, being followed by Lamp, the human hive. Despite this, Lunis manages to defeat him and send him flying off the train. Meanwhile, Nora runs into Nan and Martin, though the duo are easily defeated by the leader, Rooke. Lunis doesn't last much longer as Nora is left alone to face him.**

* * *

"Enough of these games..." Rooke said, glaring at Nora. "I'm tired already and I just want to be done with you."

"T-Then wh-why don't you leave?"

"As tempting as that offer was, the higher ups would kill me for that... so nope." Rooke smiled as he began to step towards the girl.

"Wait!"

Rooke sighed, staring at her in disbelief. "What now? Dear god! Can you just shut up and fight already!"

"Can we... move out of this car?" Nora started, nervously staring at the ground. "They'll just get in the way of the fight." Rooke frowned, glancing at the downed mages, chuckling to himself.

"I like the way you think girlie, after you." Nora began to walk out of the car, rushing towards the last car in hopes that she could manage one last attack. The second she got into the car, she began to get ready for the fight she could hear walking down the yawned. The girl had taken off running, though he knew he had nothing to worry about. She had nowhere to go on the moving train. "Keep running girlie, you're just wearing yourself out faster. Making my job easier." As he approached the final car, Rooke yawned, shaking his head. "Its over kid." He smiled, see the girl standing in the middle of the car.

"Ink Dragon's Roar!"

Rooke smiled as the clone standing in front of him melted, the girl jumping up from behind him, about the release the deep breath in order to release the attack. "Absorb." he muttered simply, holding up his hand.

Nora's attack went straight for the target, however instead of doing damage, it simply flew straight into Rooke's palm, disappearing instantly. "Wha-"

"I told you I had enough. Release" Rooke held his palm to Nora's stomach, releasing a small ball with twice the force of her own attack right into her. Rooke yawned as he stepped back, crossing his arms. Nora stood straight for a minute, eyes wide, before the entire force of the attack hit her at once. Within an instant she collapsed unconscious, landing face first on the ground.

"Well... she stood longer than I though she would." Rooke mused, before picking the girl up and throwing her over his shoulder. "The first of many I suppose." Rooke slowly walked towards the emergency brake, pulling it in order to stop the train. After several seconds, the train finally came to a complete stop, and Rooke jumped off the back of it, smiling to himself. "Finally off that damned train..."

Rooke pulled a sphere-shaped piece of lacrima out of his pocket, holding it in his hands as he waited for it to connect. "They're always so slow to answer..." he muttered, yawning as he tossed the unconscious girl to the ground. "Wonder what became of those three idiots..."

"Ice Make: Arrow!"

Before Rooke could react, something shot into the lacrima sphere, which exploded in his hands. As he jumped back, he turned towards the source of the attack. Not far down the tracks, a light-blue haired girl stood, staring at him, hands in front of her. The girl, a Hidden Grotto mage known as Crystal Sephter, or to the others at the guild, Crys, practiced Ice Make magic, a form of magic that utilized the generation and manipulation of the element of ice. Crys's light blue hair went down to her mid back. She had sapphire eyes, which showed exactly how bored of the mission she was. She wore a gray shirt that was covered by an open blue jacket, along with a pair of black shorts that reach her knees. She was nothing spectacular in height, being of average height and build.

"How many more of you did they send! This isn't even worth it anymore!" Rooke muttered, staring at the girl in disbelief. He held his right hand up, as a small red sphere formed in his hands. "Release!"

As the ball flew towards Crys, she threw her arms to the floor, ready to block the attack. "Ice Make: Sheild!" As she spoke, a shield made of solid ice rose from the ground before her hands. The sphere connected with the shield of ice, though apart from a small dent, it made no further damage.

"Damn... must have used too much on the girl." Rooke muttered. He frowned, glancing towards the downed Dragon Slayer, before shaking his head. "Next time I guess girlie." Rooke sighed as he stared at the girl, taking out a smaller sphere of lacrima. "I'd take care of this one blue. Besides, the competitors killing her wouldn't help either of us out much... See ya." With that he held the lacrima up as it glowed for a second, before he instantly disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

"He got away..." Crys muttered, before making her way towards the girl on the floor.

"He sent you? It must be a miracle you made it here in time."

"Isn't that funny. Lester's with me too. I don't know where he is though." Crys said, turning towards the train, where Martin was slowly making his way off, hand on his side. He stared at Crys, before looking towards Nora.

"Lester too? Wow even more of a miracle." Martin muttered, mocking the two's lack of interest in certain missions. "How is she?"

"She's alive... but I'm no medic so we might as well hurry up and get her to one."

"Alright." Martin said, looking towards the train. "We made a mess."

"Nothing unusual for you three." Crys muttered, shaking her head as she turned towards behind her. "Lester? Are you going to help us or not?"

"Fine..." Lester muttered. "I'll carry her, but the rest of you have to walk. Be happy that the train was just passing through the forest still or else it would be a long walk. With that said, Lester disappeared, using his magic to make his way towards the guild, jump after jump.

"Let's wake the others."

"Great... Nan will be thrilled to know she lost another fight..." Martin muttered as he shook his head. "Maybe this time her tree will survive."

"Doubt it."

* * *

"Would you two shut up already! She's walking up!"

Nora's eyes opened slowly, to the sight of Nan's face right up against hers. The redhead grinned as she stared at her, before jumping up. "She's alive."

"There was no doubt she wasn't going to live Nan..."

Martin chuckled as he looked towards Orville, shaking his head. "Just let her ramble Orville, she won't stop anyways..." Nora stared at Nan, shaking her head as she attempted to sit up, before a sharp pain in her chest brought her back down.

"I wouldn't try that." another voice said from the other side of her. "Almost all of your ribs were fractured." Nora turned her head to see a man with long silver hair standing next to her bed smiling. In the corner a light-blue haired girl sat in a seat, yawning out of boredom.

"Who-"

"Otto Verrader" The man said, smiling. "The Guild master of Hidden Grotto." Nora stared up at the man for a second, before everything came back to her.

"Ferris!"

"I'm right here ya whiner!" The exceed muttered, waving his cigar around. "No need to worry about me. 'Cept that crazy red-head won't stop eyeballin' me!" Nan smiled innocently ass she began to whistle to herself. Nora looked towards the three she recognized, noting each of their injuries. Nan's right arm was in a sling, and she had bandages wrapped around her forehead. Martin seemed fine, though every time he moved he winced slightly and touched his side. Orville seemed the best off, other than a bandage across his left cheek and several scratches in other places.

"Ya owe these idiots your life kid. Least you could say is thanks!" Ferris muttered, glaring at Nan.

"Th-Than-"

"No need miss" Orville started. "Its our job."

"We did a crappy job." Martin said, staring at his partners. "The one you should really thank is Crys over there. You'd be god-knows-where if it wasn't for her."

Nora looked towards the girl in the corner, who barely looked up at the mention of her name. "Thanks."

Crys looked towards her, before nodding her head and walking out of the room.

Otto turned back towards Nora, smiling. "Well then Nora, hurry up and get better quickly. Once we do we've got a lot to talk about. And boy do I mean a lot." With that the guild master took his leave, the other three following behind him.

"Boy have you gotten yourself into a big mess this time..." Ferris said, shaking his head.

* * *

**There you have it! Surprise character introduction! **

**Crys Sephter belongs to Imagine.48**

**I wasn't thinking of introducing a character to begin with... it kinda just happened. But here you go! Now we get to start with introducing the characters! Let me know what you guys think! Till next time.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Well here we are, onto the beginning of the introductions. Well, just to let everyone know, these had no reasonable order, just whoever I felt like throwing in. Now this chapter specifically, we'll learn more about the guild, so only four characters will be introduced in total this chapter. The next few might have five or six or so. Well I can't really think of anything else. **

**Sorry for the long gap in updates, I know its been almost a month. I've been a little busy, so I'm hoping I can get at least one update a week. As an I'm sorry gift, I promise that I'll update by the end of this week, unless unforeseen event cancel that, so expect it Thursday or Saturday.**

**I've still got a few spots left, so if you haven't yet, send in a character! After the next chapter is out, applications WILL close. There will be NO exceptions. No more spots remain for any S-Class mages, though there will be a Exam later in the story, so we'll see if your character gets promoted. However, there is one Dragon Slayer spot at the guild, though since I'm going to be picky, it HAS to be female, and quite the detailed application. Thanks!**

**LAST CHAPTER RECAP: Nora was easily defeated by Rooke, who nearly succeeded in getting away with the Ink Dragon Slayer. However, thanks to the late arrival of Hidden Grotto's Ice Make Mage, Crystal, the tracksuit clad villain gave up and left. After returning to the guild, Nora woke up and met Otto, the guild's master.**

**Something I thought of doing. As in the manga, the cover of each chapter was typically used as an introduction to the characters. So in the intros of the chapters now, I'll list the info of the previous chapter's characters here. As for this chapter, I'll be putting out the Founding Five and Nora. The four introduced here along with Crystal will pop up next chapter.**

**Otto Verrader. Age: 40. Magic: Wood Make. Likes: Drinking. Dislikes: Sad People **

**Lester Top. Age: 29. Magic: Jump. Likes: ****Relaxing. Dislikes: Work**

**Nan Jennings: Age: 29. Magic: Power Manipulation. Likes: Violence. Dislikes: Slow Days.**

**Orville Scott: Age: 35. Magic: Charge. Likes: Explosions. Dislikes: Laws.**

**Martin Finch: Age: 33. Magic: Barrier. Likes: Studying. Dislikes: How destructive his team is.**

**Nora Kaiga: Age: 17. Magic: Ink Dragon Slayer. Likes: Being Alone. Dislikes: Attention**

**Ferris: Age: ? Magic: Aero. Likes: Smoking, Drinking, Women. Dislikes: Other Exceed.  
**

* * *

"Are you gonna lay there all day?"

The irritated voice nearly instantly woke Nora up. If took a few seconds for the girl to remember where she was. The small infirmary wasn't much. The walls and floor were both made of wood, and nearly all the furniture, including the bed she laid on, seemed to be a simply extension of the floor or wall. In the corner, a young looking woman sat at a desk, jotting down note on a clipboard. She appeared to be rather short, though Nora couldn't tell exactly how tall she was since she was sitting down. The woman was on the slim side, and had long blonde hair which was braided down her back with a white ribbon. When the women looked up, noticing Nora was finally awake, Nora could see her gold eyes.

"Oh good. You're awake." Without waiting, the women jumped up, rushing over towards Nora. "Nora, my name is Apolla Solaris. I'm going to be you're doctor here at Hidden Grotto for the next week and a half."

"Wait." Ferris started, looking up at her, cigar hanging out of his mouth. "Week and a half? Ain't that a little excessive."

Apolla looked down at the exceed, staring for a second. " She wore a flowy white dressing with gold trim, along with light yellow leggings. She also had a pair of black, low heeled shoes, and a yellow bow hanging loosely around her neck. Well, the actual damage to her body was only a few broken ribs, however the type of magic used against her actually formed a sort of barrier around her magic, and until that wears off, she won't be doing much magic. But, since it was a weak sort, most likely unintentional, it won't last long at all. You'll be good as new in no time."

Nora looked down at her hand, attempting to generate some sort of ink, though not a drop appeared. Ferris stared at her, before shaking his head. "I don't know why you worried about fighting that guy. You should have ran as fast as you could like I told you."

Ferris's statement obviously had a negative effect on the girl, as the only reaction he received was a sharp glare.

"Now that you're awake, I'll go and tell Otto that you're awake." Apolla smiled, before looking down at the exceed. "And put that out. This is an infirmary, not a bar." Ferris rolled his eyes as Apolla walked away. However, before she could open the door, it burst open as a oddly tall boy with black spiky hair walked in.

"Apolla-san, Damien was too absorbed in his book, and well he walked off the tree house again."

Apolla sighed, walking back over to her desk, grabbing a small bag. "Honestly, the boy need to pay more attention. Thanks Hanbei. Nora I'll get Otto for you once I'm finished with Damien."

With that the doctor left, leaving Nora alone with Ferris and the tall boy, Hanbei. After several awkward seconds, Hanbei walked over to the bed, smiling at Nora. "You must be the girl that Nan and the others got all beat up over."

Nora stared at him for a second, before looking over to find that Ferris had snuck out of the room while she was focused on Hanbei. "Uh... yeah. I guess so."

Hanbei smiled at her, before holding out his hand. "Hanbei Teppei Kibaki."

"Nora Kaiga." She muttered, slowly shaking the boys hand. As she looked up at the tall boy, she final spotted his amber eyes. Hanbei was wearing a black t-shirt, along with black scarf. Usually, the boy had a dark trench coat on, though since he was inside, he had taken it off and left it in his room. Hanbei did not use a type of magic per to say, as he was one of several known 'Contractors' out in the guild world. Hanbei himself was a Devil Contractor, and was able to summon and control several devils of various abilities.

"Well Nora-san, from what I can tell, you could use some sleep." Hanbei said. "I'll leave you to it, and I guess I'll see you whenever you wake up." Without waiting, Hanbei left the infirmary, leaving Nora completely alone. She sighed to herself, before slowly laying back down and shutting her eyes.

* * *

Nan's hysterical laughing echoed through the bar as Apolla stared at Damien in disbelief. The boy had fallen out of the tree and was nearly perfectly fine other for a few bumps and bruises. The room was relatively empty, save for the three, Hanbei, who had just walked back in, and the bartender. Just like the infirmary, each of the tables and the bar were all molded to the floor, though the chairs weren't, most likely so they could be pushed in.

Behind the bar, the bartender was cleaning the glasses silently, yawning to himself. Hoover Parson, a man of nearly forty years old was Hidden Grotto's bartender. The man had an sickly look to him, having pale skin and dark bags under his blue eyes, along with short dark brown hair. Hoover was rather skinny, and was only 5'7". Hoover's bar was relatively well stocked and organized, the dark wood that made up the bar was stained with the many different drinks that had been spilt on it throughout the years. Atop the shelf in the back of the bar was a long sword, appearing to be nearly five foot in length, not counting the gray handle. Next to it laid its dark blue scabbard, which had obviously collected dust over the years.

Not many of the mages knew Hoover possessed no magic, mainly because of the breeze that always seemed to be around him whenever he appeared to be angry. The man wore a dark red and black stripped shirt, along with a pair of black pants and black shoes. After he finished cleaning the glasses, he grabbed one and poured himself a drink, grabbing the news paper to read while he waited for the rush of the usual mages to return.

"I'm really sorry Apolla, but I'm seriously alright. See?" Damien Ralthack jumped to his feet, attempting to show the doctor how he was perfectly fine. The boy was 21, and had black hair brushed down the back of his neck. He was tall, not as much as Hanbei, but still tall and had a medium build. "Look if you want, I'll get a checkup! I'm really alright though."

Damien's blue eyes stared at the doctor, who shook her head as him, slightly smiling. "Just don't fall out of the tree again." Damien smiled, picking up his book as he went to get back to his table. He wore a brown vest over a long sleeved greet shirt, brown pants, and sandals.

"Ha...ha... How do you fall out of the tree." Nan asked, leaning over towards Damien. "Its been a couple of years since you came here, its not that hard to get used to. Damien sighed, shaking his head at the redhead, before going back to the book, smiling to himself slightly. Damien uses a type of magic known as Energy Magic, which allowed him to generate his own energy and manipulate it.

"Why is there a door that leads nowhere?"

The five heads in the room turned towards the voice. Nora had somehow managed to get to her feet and wrapped a blanket around her before waking into the bar.

"Nora, you should be resting." Apolla started, before Nan cut her off in order to explain.

"Well kid, Otto's magic has to do with wood, so when he made the guild, he crafted the entire thing by hand right in the middle of the tree. It took a few weeks, though he managed to turn the center tree and three surrounding trees into a guild. Hidden Grotto's been growing ever since. If you want the ground floor, you just need to head straight down the stairs and out the door at the bottom. The door over there leads to the lift to the other trees, which someone must be using since its not here. Each one serves as a dorm for the mages. One for the boys, one for the girls, and the last for the S-Class mages."

Nora only gave Nan a confused look with the last statement. "She doesn't know what a S-Class Mage is." Hoover said quietly, barely looking up.

Nan smiled, nodding. "Its so cute how little she knows." The redhead smiled to herself, before looking back towards Nora. "An S-Class Mage is someone who works for a guild that has passed a certain test in order to make them able to take better jobs. However, these jobs tend to be more difficult. Here at Hidden Grotto we've got five of those. Three of whom are here now."

"Alright now that you know its back to bed, no exceptions." Apolla said, giving Nan a slightly annoyed look as she began to lead the dark haired girl back into the infirmary.

"What? What did I say?" Nan asked. The other three in the room chuckled to themselves, before returning to what they were doing.

* * *

**And there you have it, the four introductions to start the introductions.**

**Apolla Solaris: LightandDarkHeart**

**Hanbei Teppei Kibaki: Touiyu**

**Hoover Parson: A friend of Mine.**

**Damein Ralthack: StormRider2.0**

**As for next chatper, well you'll just have to wait and see. Till next time, see ya.**


	8. Chapter 7

**I know... pretty damn late. Guess I lied, but at least I didn't stop fully. I've just got a lot going on. Good news is I know where I'm going to college, so I should have one less thing to do. But, anyways, let's just get on with it shall we? So I've decided on five characters for this chapter. Alright, not much else to get on with other than the recaps.**

**LAST CHAPTER: Awaking to meet her the guild's doctor, Apolla, Nora meets several more members of the guild including Damien and Hanbei, along with the bartender, Hoover. Nan also explained more about the layout of the guild, which is centered in a cluster of trees.**

**Crystal Sephter. Age: 15. Magic: Ice-Make. Likes: Slacking Off. Dislikes: Boring Missions**

**Apolla Solaris. Age: 27. Magic: N/A. Likes: Taking care of the guild. Dislikes: Injuries**

**Hoover Parson. Age: 39. Magic: N/A. Likes: Calm Days. Dislikes: Dust**

**Hanbei Teppi Kibaki. Age: 18. Magic: Devil Contractor. Likes: His Friends. Dislikes: Anything happening to them.**

**Damien Ralthack. Age: 21. Magic: Energy Magic. Likes: Seeing things to the finish. Dislikes: Broken Promises.**

* * *

"Didn't I tell you that was a bad idea?"

The small whitish-brown Exceed flapped its wings as he trailed behind his companion, just entering the forest Hidden Grotto was located in, the sun just beginning to rise in the early morning. The Exceed also had chocolate brown eyes, and like all Exceed, long white wings.

"Hope, all I did was what the job asked me to do. Plain and Simple."

"Cyan... you broke a dam and flooded three villages. All to help some rich man find his favorite shoe." At Hope's statement, Cyan Swordlancer chuckled to himself, remembering the circumstances which brought the flood. After finding the shoe near the dam, Cyan accidentally caused a chain reaction, which blew the dam apart. Thanks to his magic however, he didn't even get close to drowning. Being a Water Dragon Slayer, Cyan easily escaped from the flood, and waited in a tree while the flood destroyed the villages.

"At least I got the shoe."

"You flooded his basement and he refused to pay you." Hope sighed as he flew down the the ground, deciding to walk the rest of the way to the guild.

Cyan shrugged to himself, before continuing the walk towards the tree. Cyan was nineteen, and had somewhat messy but still stylish shoulder length brown hair and blueish-green eyes. The nineteen year old wore a black V-neck top with tribal patterns and a pair of angel wings on the back, along with a tribal-looking necklace. In addition to this, he wore a leather bracer on his left arm and a tribal looking bracelet on the right that wraps around his right arm with a cord. He wore large blue sirwal-style trousers with decorated hems and a low cut sandal-like leather boots.

Cyan yawned as he approached the opening to the guild's 'hole'. The exact location of the guild was only known to the members, so any attackers would easily get lost in the fores. The hidden opening was only big enough for three people to fit through at once, though, not many people left at the same time. Upon entering, Cyan stared up at the large tree, which stood nearly two hundred meters tall, or around six hundred and fifty something feet.

"For the last time kid, leave me alone." Cyan looked towards the boy's tree, spotting another guild member, stuck in a heated arguement with a little girl, no more that five.

"Picking on little kids again Ralec?"

"Cyan!" The little redheaded girl smiled, staring up at the mage.

"Hey Nina."

Ralec Thatcher, or Toxic Ralec as he was known as in town, was most likely the least liked member of the guild. As he turned to look at Cyan he shook his head, shooting him a mocking smile. "Heard you destroyed a couple more towns Swordlancer." Ralec was basically just skin and bones, average height, but he was very thin. While his build didn't seem to hinder his physical abilities, it seemed as if he'd crumble to dust within seconds if you so much as flicked him.

"I heard on your last job you burnt a hole in the floor of a hotel. I believe a sinkhole formed after that too." Cyan countered, shooing the same smile right back. Nina started up at the two, who seemed to be in the middle of a heated mental battle.

"Can I has a snack?"

"Learn to talk kid." Ralec muttered, rolling his eyes. Hope flew down next to Nina, being just shorter than her, only by and inch or two.

"Have, and sure Nina, we'll go find you're mom." Hope said, grabbing the child's hand.

"Ohh! Ohh! Can we fly? Can we? Can we?"

"Sure." Hope quietly said.

This statement nearly instantly broke Cyan and Ralec out of their staring contest.

"You got a death wish?"

"Nan's going to kill you."

"Flying! Flying!" Nina cheered, grinning ear to ear as Hope shot Cyan a look, before carrying the child into the tree.

"You have one stupid cat."

"At least I have one." Cyan countered, slightly looking towards the boy's rooms. "I'm ready for a nap."

"Do I look like a dragon slayer to you?"

"Fareth and Kazuki don't have one."

"New girl does." Ralec muttered, shaking his head. He quickly leaned in close to Cyan, smiling. "You best hurry though, Otto's bringing her to the council later today if we're lucky they're probably execute her."

"You're scum you know that?"

"I enjoy it." Ralec said, grinning as he began his walk out of the guild. "I'm the last one to leave for now, Otto wants a guild meeting tonight, so everyone's coming back. I'm just heading to town, so don't worry, I'll be back just for you."

"Great..." Cyan muttered, turning to head to the stairs for the boy's dorm tree.

"CYAN!" Nan's voice echoed throughout the woods. Cyan didn't even have to think about why.

"Oh crap."

"DID YOU LET YOUR CAT FLY MY KID?"

"Uh... I'm not here." Cyan chuckled, before taking off to hide.

* * *

"All set?" Otto asked, turning towards the girl standing behind him. In the past ten years, Otto's hair had gotten significantly thinner and he had grown a decent sized gotee. Even though he looked older, the silver-haired master was just as full of himself as always. "I've got no problems of you running around naked here, but if you're going to the council, I'm not bringing you in wearing rags.

Nora looked down at her new clothes. With a pair of bright blue jeans and a slightly large pink blouse, Nora barely looked like herself. Her broken sandals were replaced by a pair of black boots. Her long black hair was trimmed and pulled back and her hazel eyes were finally visible. The dark and gloomy nomad barely recognized herself. The lime green Exceed she traveled with normally stood next to her, staring up with a cigar in his mouth.

"Damn, you really can clean up can't you?"

"I'm sorry but, he's going to have to stay here."

"Ah, didn't want to go anyways." Ferris said, smiling. "Still haven't met all the women in this guild."

"I'll pick you up later." Lester muttered, barely giving him a look and he picked up a glass Hoover set down in front of him.

"Alright Nora, ready to go?" Otto asked, picking up his backpack.

The young girl barely nodded, but that was enough and the two set off to the council.

* * *

Ralec yawned to himself, staring at the sign pointing towards Magnolia, the large bustling city the guild wasn't far from. The poison mage had thick, black hair that went down to his mid-back and was greasy and extremely unclean. He has acid green eyes, which did nothing more than help show his toxic personality, and absolutely no facial hair. He smiled to himself, showing his perfect white teeth, though they had his 'saliva' dripping off of them, which was really a special version of his acid, which he had many different kinds of for all sorts of problems.

He preferred to wear a simple gray t-shirt, and a pair of skinny jeans. Other than that, the only significant clothing he wore were two water skins of his 'special blends' tied to his waste for any emergency. He expedition into town was for some supplies he was looking for, along with several things he was asked to get by other guild members. What he called the dreaded 'shopping day' was something each mage hated. A list would be left, and the last mage available would have to go and pick up the supplies. Ralec hated this job the most.

All that was on the list today were booze and kids toys. Two things you really didn't want to be seen buying together. With one last sigh, he started towards the market, hoping to avoid anyone who might recognize him. Especially with Fairy Tail's arrival in several days, the town was rebuilding their guild, as a thank you to them.

All Ralec thought of was how stupid the town really was, and for once was glad he lived in the stupid tree.

* * *

"Make way we have returned!"

"Oh crap." Lester muttered, rolling his eyes. "The shipping train has arrived. What loads of bullshit will we hear today?"

"Don't curse in front of my kid." Nan said, glaring at Lester as he quickly disappeared.

"Yay!" Nina said, grinning as she watched her two favorite people in the guild walk into the bar.

Jayne Satsuki and Hikari Dollie were the two members of one of Hidden Grotto's only teams. Other than them there was only a single more legit team. While the two were both mischievous and lighthearted, they still were different. Jayne instantly scooped the child off her seat at the bar, tossing her into the air.

"Nina!" Jayne was practically grinning from ear to ear as she caught the girl and placed her on the ground. Like her mother, Nina had red hair, though her's was much shorter. However, Nina's eyes were gray and the child was always in a positive mood, unlike her battle-hungry mother.

Jayne herself was only seventeen, and one of the newest additions to the guild, though this was more than five years ago. Jayne was pale-skinned and was very petite for her age. She had dark brown eyes, which were contrasted by her thick, white eyelashes. Her eyelashes matched the color of her hair which was a vibrant white that curled when it reach near her elbows. The girl's grin nearly left her face as she looked towards Hoover, who simply nodded to her.

Jayne wore a dark-red, high waisted skirt over a pair of black leggings, along with a grey strapless top and a black vest with round golden buttons to go over it. For her shoes, she wears a pair of light brown combat boots which she claims fit for any situation.

Jayne was a light mage, which allowed her to manipulate light on her own. Her magic was similar to her tendencies to rant over certain things for no good reason, as it helped show what a bright and spontaneous person she was.

Her partner Hikari was quite similar, though the two shared similar traits, they were not perfect copies. Hikari wore a white-sleeveless sundress with black leggings underneath and brown cowboy boots. She also wears black finger-less gloves to protect her hands, and a short black cloak that reaches her lower back and trimmed with gold linings on the edge.

As Hikari approached the bar, her long and wavy cotton candy pink hair bounced. She wore her hair in a french braid and had sky blue eyes. She is a rather petite girl who is standing at 5'2", and not very proud of it, in fact, she hated it when people mentioned her height. She has a healthy slim body with her chests size being C cup, and a small waist with healthy tanned skin from training or sunbathing. Hikari practiced a rather rare kind of magic, Earth Godslayer Magic, which allowed her to manipulate black earth. She was one of the three Godslayers withing the guild, even though its rare to have a since Godslayer in a guild.

"So how did the Warsaw job go?" Hoover asked

"I may or may not have broke the key... but in my defense, we were being chased by giant apes." Jayne said.

"What kid of apes?"

"Big hairy ones." Hikari answered the little girl, smiling slightly.

Jayne smiled as she looked around. "Who were we after before we left?"

"Kierra and Gale I think." Hikari said, looking towards Jayne.

"Oh yeah. Don't you think they'd be wonderful together?"

"I don't know... we'll have to observe for now."

Hoover looked up from washing the dishes slightly . "Gale's on a job, won't be back till tomorrow at the earliest.

"Aww."

"Alright then, now that we're back we're stealing your daughter Nan." Hikari said, smiling to the older woman.

"Yep, we're going to get her to spill everyone secrets. Nothing a little tickling can't help." With Jayne's words, the duo ran off carrying the five year old in their arms, heading towards the girl's dorm tree.

* * *

Within Magnolia, the heavy increase in people was more than enough to confuse anyone who had never visited the town. With the excitement of Fairy Tail's return mounting, the town grew more and more congested. Within it, a twenty-three year old independent mage was attempting to navigate the dark alleys and confusing streets, if only to get through the town. He wore a earthy tan wizard's cloak over his clothes, its hood covering his face.

"I can't believe this town... nearly every building's lopsided." he muttered, continuing his trek through town. "Now where is this guild?"

* * *

**So there you have it, another chapter. Now let's just credit people and that's all I have to say.**

**Cyan Swordlancer: Arcobaleno-lover**

**Ralec Thatcher: Ignatuis The Canuck**

**Nina Jennings: Me**

**Jayne Satsuki: QueenKazza**

**Hikari Dollie: Haley Le**

**Mystery Man (Penn Jastdriverr): dragonsdeed**

**Well that's it for now. See you next time with four or five more characters. If you have any problems with how I'm portraying your characters, let me know. **


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